A Soweto IT business up-skilling youth from the community
By CITYLIFE BUSINESS Staff Writer
Sometimes all it takes is a vision, will-power and grandma’s driveway – the birthplace of Thato Moteke and Theodore Sibeko’s NPO the Information Literacy Arts Booth Foundation (iLab Foundation). Founded in 2019, the Sibeko’s had a vision to improve the lives of South Africans and the desire to create a self-sustainable and self-reliant community. Their willingness to share their knowledge and empower people drove the vision.
While COVID-19 stalled the project, it didn’t dampen their spirit. The iLab Foundation started small with food and clothing packages for those in need, but soon grew to a small ICT Hub aimed at upskilling youth and adults for free.
“We were offered my grandma’s driveway which we used to start upskilling students with our two personal laptops and a tablet – this saw us graduate 18 students from Diepkloof Zone 6 Hostel – a first for Soweto,” says Theodore Sibeko, co-founder of ILAF.
This initial success of the centre strengthened the couple’s resolve in the project and they established the iLab, a training centre that offers various courses to the community for free.
They approached FUNDA CEO Motsumi Makhene for assistance in sourcing a space suitable for hosting more students. Makhene agreed to allow the couple to use the FUNDA space and once it had been cleaned up, they were ready to start their training initiatives. The space houses their training centre and the couple are working on establishing a library at the venue.
“We primarily use our space and tap into open source programmes and free accredited course lessons – Creativity and Design, Coding & Robotics, and Renewable Energy. Also our technical courses: Cellphone Repair Technician and Digital Terrestrial Television Technician. We believe that people, especially from our community and other communities of similar backgrounds have not been properly exposed to these types of courses because they are normally pricey. That’s where we come in because we offer these courses for free,” explains Sibeko.
The ILAF have also hosted a number of events such as the June 16 event, Heritage Day Indigenous Games Festival, the Don Mattera commemoration and facilitated the Steve Biko seminar with Andile WamoAfrica.
Run on goodwill with minimal financial support, the ILAF saw 42 youth graduate from their courses in 2022 and they have set themselves a target of 300 learners for 2023. However, with limited finances, the ILAF’s projects are unable to reach their full potential and they are currently looking for support to help them install solar power to mitigate the effects of loadshedding and expand their ICT resources as well as offer their staff some form of remuneration.
“The ILAF have really shown enormous fortitude and drive in developing this centre, they have very little yet they work hard in empowering their community,” says Vanessa Perumal, head of the African Media Resource Centre, a NPO looking to support social entrepreneurs with training, stakeholder partnerships and skills development.
